Watch storage temperature

[Sarosh]

Good afternoon all, apologies if this sounds stupid!

I returned home from holiday last night. This morning I went to take my watches out of the safe to give them a good wind and introduce them to my new BLNR. Lol.

I noticed the safe was pretty cold to the touch (as it’s been very cold in the U.K. this week) and also the contents too. Including the watches regardless of being in their travel pouches. Would being stored in a cold environment cause some internal damage over time perhaps to the oils and lubricants? Or if I’m winding them once a week should this prevent any problem?

I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about but just wanted your opinions.

Thanks


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[Jhowton23]

any indoor temperatures will definitely be fine. honestly even if you keep it in your freezer it will probably be fine. it would just be a strange place to keep your watch. if YOU can take the temperature- your watch can.

[GMT Aviator]

I’ve just re-started most of my collection which has been in storage in boxes in the loft for over two years. So they’ve gone through two winters and two summers hibernating inside their respective boxes through two cold soak winters and two hot summers up there. In all that time they have remained dormant and unmoved.
This last month I have retrieved them all. I started Warming them up gently still inside their boxes by leaving them on the bathroom floor which has underfloor heating.
After a day of acclimatisation I then put them on watch winders in pairs and let them slowly rotate through a programmed cycle clockwise and anti-clockwise with rest periods for about 4-5 day’s per watch. This was to help re-distribute the mechanisms oils rather than for winding purposes.
I can now confirm all are now back up and running with great accuracy. Although I have sent one GMT master in for its first service since 2004!

In answer to your question....your watches will be fine. Rolex are built like tanks. That’s what you pay for.

[meganfox17]

I remember Rolex uses a couple of lubricant oils for their watches and one of the more important lubricant is the fully synthetic Moebius Lube 90xx oil

In a broader perspective, the freezing point of most well known Swiss Luxury watch lubricants is between -40°C /-40°F and -55° C/-67°F and the process of thickening of lubricants starts at about -20°C. Repeated reproducible published studies have shown that when the Swiss watch was subjected to a temperature of -70°C / -94° F for 4 hours, no surprise here, the watch stopped ticking. What happened was the lubricant oils gradually coagulated as the temp dropped decrementally then froze at extreme temperatures well before -70°C/-94°F point.
What was interesting to the researchers was the EFFECTS were REVERSIBLE, meaning the lubricant oils did not deteriorate and the mechanisms functioned normally and perfectly once the watch was brought back to normal room temperature. In other words, Life in the Freezer DID NOT permanently damage the mechanisms and lubricant oils inside the Swiss Luxury watch

[Sporkmaker]

Taking any metal item out of a cold safe and introducing it to a warmed room will instantly induce water condensation. This is a major faux pas in the sword collecting world and I use the same rule when it comes to watches. On the flip side, taking an item from a warm safe to an air conditioned room in the summer is no problem.

[JR16]

Originally Posted by meganfox17

I remember Rolex uses a couple of lubricant oils for their watches and one of the more important lubricant is the fully synthetic Moebius Lube 90xx oil

In a broader perspective, the freezing point of most well known Swiss Luxury watch lubricants is between -40°C /-40°F and -55° C/-67°F and the process of thickening of lubricants starts at about -20°C. Repeated reproducible published studies have shown that when the Swiss watch was subjected to a temperature of -70°C / -94° F for 4 hours, no surprise here, the watch stopped ticking. What happened was the lubricant oils gradually coagulated as the temp dropped decrementally then froze at extreme temperatures well before -70°C/-94°F point.
What was interesting to the researchers was the EFFECTS were REVERSIBLE, meaning the lubricant oils did not deteriorate and the mechanisms functioned normally and perfectly once the watch was brought back to normal room temperature. In other words, Life in the Freezer DID NOT permanently damage the mechanisms and lubricant oils inside the Swiss Luxury watch

Your wealth of knowledge is remarkable and never ceases to surprise me... thanks !


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[spoilsofwar01]

Originally Posted by meganfox17

I remember Rolex uses a couple of lubricant oils for their watches and one of the more important lubricant is the fully synthetic Moebius Lube 90xx oil

In a broader perspective, the freezing point of most well known Swiss Luxury watch lubricants is between -40°C /-40°F and -55° C/-67°F and the process of thickening of lubricants starts at about -20°C. Repeated reproducible published studies have shown that when the Swiss watch was subjected to a temperature of -70°C / -94° F for 4 hours, no surprise here, the watch stopped ticking. What happened was the lubricant oils gradually coagulated as the temp dropped decrementally then froze at extreme temperatures well before -70°C/-94°F point.
What was interesting to the researchers was the EFFECTS were REVERSIBLE, meaning the lubricant oils did not deteriorate and the mechanisms functioned normally and perfectly once the watch was brought back to normal room temperature. In other words, Life in the Freezer DID NOT permanently damage the mechanisms and lubricant oils inside the Swiss Luxury watch

Id be interested if this was the same for the + temperatures as well ? On another note I recall seeing a Rolex in a pan of boiling water 100 °C and in a block of Ice -42 on both occasions the watches were still functioning... I wont be trying this